Monday, December 31, 2012

I recently saw a post on Facebook from a radio personality that was upset he wasn't going to get his show prep service over the holiday. I certainly hope nobody is using a prep service for 100% of their show. If you are, then you probably have nothing on our show that a listener couldn't get someplace else.

Don't get me wrong, having multiple sources of prep is great. The more the merrier. There's a lot of great show prep sites out there that are well worth the barter. Most have great stuff, but the one thing they don't have is what ONLY YOU can bring to your show. Your own stories, experiences and thoughts. You can't find that stuff in any show prep service.

When I was on the air everyday, I always had a note pad in my car and by my bed. I wrote down everything that I thought would work on my show. Only about 25%-30% of what I wrote down actually made it on the air, but that 25%-30% of my show was stuff that no competitor had. I used life as my show prep and supplemented it with a great national show prep service.

You should always have a wide variety in your prep. Pack your show with different things like pop culture stories, celebrity news, tons of audio (all things you can get from show prep services), listener calls and a lot of local stuff. Remember, you also need to bring relatable things that happened to you. Those won't come from any show prep service. They can only come from you.

Ask yourself this, what kind of show would you have if the internet went away tomorrow?

What a great move from Lego and they probably didn't even know the family would record the little boys reaction and then have it go viral.

How's your customer service? Probably not that good.

I've always had a problem with radio people calling frequent winner's "Prize Pigs" behind the winner's back. After reading that little boys letter, it's clear that Lego didn't refer to one of their most loyal customers in a negative way.

I'm not sure if the call back/response rate is bad in every industry, but it's brutal in radio. And I'm just not talking about responding to listeners, I'm talking about responding to job seekers, product vendors and clients.

Why do radio people hardly ever call back or respond to listeners? I know we are all busy with a lot of stuff on our plates, but EVERYONE deserves a call back or response.

I was really touched watching this video. It made me feel really good about the story and their product (even though Legos are really expensive, I now feel better about buying them for my kids and will continue to do so). I want to spread the word of how they treated a loyal customer.

Word of mouth is great advertising. Make sure your listeners and clients are saying great things about you, and that starts with great customer service and great customer service starts with a call back or a response to an e-mail.

WHO I AM

I'm a fan of compelling, personality driven radio. I got bit by the radio bug when I was 13 and have been involved ever since. Today, I'm the Vice President of Programming at Westwood One. I oversee the Denver based 24/7 formats heard on nearly 1700 affiliate stations across the country and around the world. I'm also the National Program Director for the syndicated shows "The Lia Show" and "Country Gold with Randy Owen."
I currently sit on the CMA (Country Music Association) Board of Directors, the Radiothon Advisory Board for St. Jude Children's Hospital as well as the Advisory Board for the Ohio School of Broadcasting.
I served as the Agenda Chairman for the Country Radio Seminar in 2010 and 2011.